Female politicians fearful of sexual harassment should “toughen up” and learn
about the culture in which they are working, Paddy Ashdown’s former press
secretary has said.

Jo Phillips, who worked alongside the former Liberal Democrat leader in the 1990s, acknowledged that Westminster was a difficult place to work but suggested that such women should be well-equipped to stand up for themselves.

“If you’re going into politics, you’re going into a very tough world,” she said.

“It’s tough for men and women. There’s a lot of bullying, there’s a lot of nastiness, there’s a lot of appalling behaviour that you’d never get away with outside politics so you do have to toughen up a little bit."

She added: "To a large extent, women in politics are in a better place to do something about it. You are in a position, having had to toughen up to get where you are in the first place … whereas if you are working in a company you don’t have the same power and it’s a lot harder to tell people to buzz off.”

Sheila Gunn, John Major’s former press secretary, agreed that women working in such a notoriously male-dominated and sexist environment should know what to expect.

“If you’re a young, female aspiring politician you actually have to learn a little bit about what the culture’s like and find ways of coping with it and coping with that sort of inappropriate behaviour,” she told Radio 4’s Today programme.

Asked whether she agreed that they should “toughen up”, she replied: “To some extent yes, but I also think that they have to be sisterly, they actually have to make sure that they pass on comments to each other and maybe take formal complaints.”

The attitude provoked fury on Twitter, with one user writing online: “Not really sure why it's all down to women to 'toughen up' – surely men have a role to play in treating women as equals.”

Another said: ”Jo Phillips and Sheila Gunn telling us that women in politics will encounter sexual harassment and should 'toughen up'. I despair.”

The women, taking part in a discussion in the wake of a slew of allegations concerning Lord Rennard’s alleged inappropriate conduct, said the culture within parliament had changed dramatically since 1997, with the large influx of female MPs.

Ms Gunn disclosed that she had been the victim of “serious” harassment by a senior Tory MP in the late 1970s or early ‘80s.

“I had it twice, really quite seriously. And it was very, very scary,” she said.

“There was one incident when I was working for John Major and it was a senior politician who said he would walk me back to my door late at night.

“And then when we got there he said, I’ll see you in, and before I knew it he was chasing me up the stairs. That wasn’t much fun, let’s put it that way.”

Ms Gunn said she managed to fend off the MP by “bursting into tears and mumbling about an ex-boyfriend”.

She said that at the time, it was not uncommon to fall victim to such advances and that she didn’t take them too seriously, although she acknowledged that some were more dangerous than others.

“I took it as one of the challenges one had to deal with,” she said.

“I rather laughed it off. I tended to treat those who did that kind of thing as naughty little boys and made sure they knew I was a serious journalist.

“But a distinction has to be made. There are the naughty little boys who try it on late at night. What is much more serious, and very frightening, is when it’s those who can actually influence your position and your reputation.”

She said that such bullying tactics were unlikely to have much effect in today’s climate as most politicians were fearful of having formal complaints made against them.

Miss Phillips acknowledged that women working in various industries, had had their fair share of experiences of “being walked to their doors” by MPs who think they are George Clooney after a couple of drinks.